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February 25, 2013

Legal News in Brief

Corporate Spotlight

Regulators study banks' role in online payday loans
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and New York's Department of Financial Services are looking into the role banks play in helping Internet-based payday lenders access customer money, sources say. Some banks allow payday lenders to withdraw payments automatically from borrowers' bank accounts in states where the loans are prohibited and after customers ask for the withdrawals to stop. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/23)

SEC's Aguilar wants faster technology-rules adoption
Regulators should accelerate adoption of rules intended to avert technological glitches from disrupting markets, says Securities and Exchange Commission member Luis Aguilar. "The commission needs to do much more to update our regulatory framework and ensure that our capital markets develop and maintain systems with sufficient capacity, integrity, resiliency, availability, and security," Aguilar says. Reuters (2/22)

National News

Governors say spending cuts will return U.S. to recession
The $85 billion of federal spending cuts set to take effect Friday likely will do so much damage that the U.S. will fall back into recession, Republican and Democratic governors said at a meeting of the National Governors Association. The mere threat of the cuts has already weakened state economies, the governors said. Bloomberg (2/24), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/24)

Legislative Dispatch

White House details sequester's potential impact on each state
The White House has released 51 fact sheets detailing the effects it says states would see if across-the-board spending cuts take effect Friday. The documents mention the possibility of job cuts in education, federal-worker furloughs and reduced public health services. The Washington Post (2/24)

Employment Focus

Target uses unfair hiring practices, EEOC complaints say
Target discriminated against job seekers with criminal backgrounds, several complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission say. The complaints were filed by the NAACP and TakeAction Minnesota. Target denies any wrongdoing. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) (2/20)

Supreme Court and Federal Court Watch

S&P gets extension to respond to government's lawsuit
Standard & Poor's has received an extension until April 22 to file its response to government allegations that the company intentionally misstated the risk associated with mortgage bonds in the time leading up to the financial crisis. In asking for more time, S&P cited the "length and breadth" of the allegations. The U.S. could seek damages as high as $5 billion in the case. Bloomberg (2/23)

Professional and Business Development

How to gain career wisdom
John Baldoni advises young career professionals to appreciate what they've been able to accomplish and understand that their experience will grow. "If you pay attention you will become wise. Wisdom and age are not synonymous, but if you pay attention you will learn a great deal," he says. The Fast Track (2/21)

Wait for an opening before discussing yourself
If you talk too much about yourself or your business while networking, you could end up sounding narcissistic, experts say. "You don't need to sell yourself all the time. Know your audience. Time is precious -- so when you do speak of your business, make sure it is to an audience that has a need," says Jennefer Witter, owner and founder of PR firm The Boreland Group. MainStreet.com (2/21)

PLI News

A Significant Destination for Global Investment
Over the past decade, the Russian economy has demonstrated growth at rates exceeding most developed countries, doubling disposable incomes and enabling the emergence of a middle class that increasingly has become a very attractive market for many foreign companies. The Feb. 26 audio briefing Doing Business in Russia will provide an introduction to some of the legal risks faced by those doing business in Russia and the key steps companies can take to better manage them.

USPTO Seeks Comments on Patent Small Claims Proceedings
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is seeking comments regarding whether the United States government should develop a small claims mechanism for patent enforcement. The USPTO is interested in receiving comments from the public regarding whether there is both a need and a desire for this type of proceeding, in what circumstances it would be needed, and what features it should include. For more information, check out PLI's Patent Law Practice Center.

SmartQuote

It is wonderful how much news there is when people write every other day; if they wait for a month, there is nothing that seems worth telling."

--Anna Masterton Buchan,
Scottish writer

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